Chapter 14 - Day 6

Sorry it took me so long to update again! I briefly lost motivation, and then Christmas came around so I wasn't thinking about writing, but I should be back to posting regularly after this! I finally figured out how I want this story to end, and I'm really excited to keep posting chapters!

It was clear now that the reason the arena had been a city as opposed to anything else was because otherwise all of the Capitol-raised tributes who had probably never been outside of a city in their lives would have died within the first few days.

Not that there were too many of us left, anyway: last night, when no faces had appeared in the sky, Atlas and I had counted everyone that we thought had been left, and we had been almost certain that there were seven of us left. Although, who knew how many would be left after the earthquake? It had been designed by Gamemakers; there was no way that they would be content with night falling and there being no casualties.

My thoughts weren't on the other tributes, now, however, but on myself. The oasis hadn't seemed so bad when I had been merely trying to find food so that I could leave the area and get back to the city, but now that I knew that we would be seeking at least temporary shelter here, it was a different story. The underbrush scratched at my legs, and made the ground uneven enough that I was constantly stumbling. And because I wasn't at all used to walking around in a forest, anyone would be able to hear me coming from a mile away. Thankfully, any other tributes who were in the oasis would be struggling with staying quiet as well, and we would be able to hear them if they were near enough.

Atlas and I had no idea where we were going, having avoided the oasis for almost the entire Games. I had been in here a couple of times, looking for both edible and poisonous plants, but back then I hadn't been looking for a place to use as shelter, I was merely looking for the plants and then leaving. So I wasn't much help, other than to point out the clumps of berries and other edible plants. I didn't dare let on that I knew which plants were poisonous and that I knew how to utilize them against others. I trusted Atlas, but I didn't trust him enough to tell him about my secret weapon. This was the Hunger Games, after all, and only one of us would come out of it alive. And it would be me. Why would I do anything that would endanger that certainty?

We made our way up a hill and then stopped and surveyed the area around us. Most importantly, we couldn't see -or hear- any of the other tributes, even from our vantage point on the hill. Was it too much to hope that the rest of the tributes had died in the earthquake and we wouldn't have to deal with any of them? Or had they just stayed in the city, despite the inevitable aftershocks? Either way, they weren't anywhere near us, which was good. That meant that Atlas and I would be able to get some rest. After the shock and panic of the earthquake, we needed it. And hopefully, within the next few days, we would be able to return to the ruined city, where we would be much more confident than we were now, stuck in the middle of the oasis with absolutely no idea how to survive out here.

The sun was only just beginning to sink in the sky, which was hard to believe. This day had seemed like it had lasted for several days, with the earthquake, but it also felt like it was still early in the morning.

I realized that my legs were still shaking from the adrenaline rush that I had had during the earthquake, and so I slowly sank to the ground, pulling out my bottle of water and drinking greedily. I was almost out of water, and I would have to go collect some more soon, but not just yet. All I wanted right now was to rest.

"I'll be so glad when these Games are over," Atlas said, breaking the silence.

I nodded. "It'll be nice not to have to worry about getting killed in your sleep." With a jolt, I realized that if I got out, that's exactly what I would have to worry about. If I somehow managed to get out of this arena without the rebels killing me, I'd have to worry about either the new government killing me, or any number of angry rebels who I was sure had a score to settle with me and with my grandfather. Or any number of the dead tributes' families. I was sure they would be furious that I had killed their children and brothers and sisters, seeing as we had all gone to the Academy together.

"What?" Atlas asked, putting a hand on my shoulder, clearly sensing that I was thinking about something. I sighed, leaning into his touch.

"Nothing." Though it was far from nothing, there was no way that I would be able to tell him what I was thinking about, with all of the cameras around the arena broadcasting this to the entire country. And I wasn't sure if Atlas would even be able to understand my thought process here, since he was only the son of one of the members of my grandfather's cabinet, and not the granddaughter of the most hated man in the entire country of Panem.

Atlas might not have understood or even known what I was thinking about, but that didn't mean that he didn't understand that I was worried about something. He put his arm around me and drew me close to him, and we sat and watched the oasis and in the distance, the plumes of dust still rising from the city.

"I'm so glad that you're here," I told him. "These Games would have been so much harder to get through without you."

Atlas laughed slightly. "You would have been just fine without me. But I definitely would have been lost without you."

I shook my head. "If you hadn't been here, I definitely would have been killed by someone in the middle of the night since I'd be alone and unable to keep watch."

"So the only thing I'm good for is watching for the other tributes?" His words were angry, but his tone was joking.

"And remember when we had to fight the girl that killed - killed Leto?" I stumbled a bit over the phrase, feeling a flood and guilt that I had let Leto die and then the crushing grief that I had lost my best friend. "You helped me kill her."

"Helped you? I was the one that killed her!"

"With my help, then. But I doubt that just one of us would have been able to kill her and walk out of there alive."

"That girl -Bellatrix?- was absolutely insane. She was younger than us but absolutely terrifying," Atlas admitted, and I recalled Bellatrix's feral grin and had to agree.

"She was almost scarier than Ares and Nero," I added.

"Almost? It looked like she didn't feel any pain!"

"At least she's dead and out of the arena." I sighed. "But both Ares and Zeus are still left, and they're the oldest and the largest and the most capable. And Zeus is fighting for Aphrodite, so he'll probably be harder to kill." Though I tried to push it down, I always felt a spark of panic whenever I thought about having to face Zeus or Ares, who had swords and were larger than me, whereas all I had were my knives and my poison, which weren't exactly fit for close combat. I had to use the poison soon, even though Atlas was still here. Maybe it was time for him to know my secret.

"We don't have to talk about them right now," Atlas said. "They're nowhere near us. And they might just kill each other, and then we'd only have to deal with that twelve-year-old and whoever else survived the earthquake.

"And besides," he went on. "We'd be able to see and hear anyone coming from far away, and most of the tributes will be recovering from the earthquake." He smiled at me.

For once, both of us were completely relaxed. The arena and all of the rest of my concerns seemed to melt away; there was only Atlas. I knew that as soon as we stood up we would have to deal with the rest of the problems that the arena posed, but right now I didn't care.

My lips met his and I could feel his smile, which made me smile myself. I couldn't remember the last time that I had done so since the Games had been announced. Or the last time that I had felt this relaxed, this happy, since really before the ending of the last Quarter, Quell, when I began to sense that the end was drawing near for the old government of Panem.

But I wasn't thinking about any of that now. All I could think of was how solid Atlas' arms felt around me and how soft his lips were and how happy he made me feel.

I think I would have treasured that moment even more if I had known what was going to come next for me.